In a June 11 op-ed in this fine newspaper, former mayor Jim Dailey urged the residents of central Arkansas to lay aside their opposition to Google building a hyperscale data center here, writing that "saying yes to Google tells the rest of the business world that Little Rock is open for opportunity and ready to be a leader in the 21st century."

However, Dailey's column overlooks two major factors in people's opposition to this particular data center, and in general the hyperscale data centers that are backbone of the artificial intelligence "industry."

First, Google is a company of dubious ethics whose profit is increasingly predicated upon appropriating the value of what others create and leaving them nothing in return. Second, there is no real AI "industry" outside of the hype offered up by tech overlords obsessed with the perception of growth in order to keep stock prices elevated; any data centers built for this "industry" will likely become stranded assets--and thus nuisance problems for local governments--the moment reality pops this particular bubble.

When Google first began adding advertisements to its search results, many users took this as the cost of keeping their favorite search engine in business. When Google began ranking paid advertisers higher than other search results, users grew increasingly frustrated, but there was little movement away from Google. However, Google's shift toward AI now threatens the very worldwide Web that made Google so profitable to begin with.

First, Google instituted an "AI Overview" of whatever topic you search, placed at the top of results. Many people looking for a quick fact or reference point suddenly didn't have to leave the Google website for their answer. But last month, Google announced that its flagship search engine would feature an "intelligent search box" that functions like a chatbot, allowing one to engage with the website conversationally, asking more complex questions--again, without ever having to leave Google for an answer.

Many online publishers live and die by their traffic, dependent upon the revenue generated by advertisements. And this revenue was already minimal, given that Google bought the company DoubleClick in 2008 and soon developed a monopoly in online advertising (a monopoly ruled illegal last year by a federal judge).

Now, Google is harvesting the content of other websites for its........

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